Comparison: MAC 217 v. Sephora PRO #27

The MAC 217, in my experience, is heralded to be one of the best blending brushes.  Recently, Sephora Collection's PRO line of brushes came out with a pretty decent dupe!

Head past the jump for more comparison photos!

First Impressions: Sephora Collection Brush Protectors

The brush guard has been circling around the beauty community for a while now...I'm pretty sure that I first heard of them two years ago and I'm positive they were around before that as well...but I never bought into them because I didn't think I needed them.

I deep clean my brushes once a week and spot clean them between each use so I wasn't seeing frays, splaying, or any signs of damage to the actual bristles themselves.  That is, until I looked at them last week and noticed the first signs of wear and tear.  I'd say that considering some of my brushes I've had for about 6 or 7 years, that's pretty good!  (at work, I'm prided on only having replaced 2 or 3 brushes in my belt in almost 2 years!)

I also never really got into them because I don't order a lot of things online (firstly because I'm cheap and secondly I hate paying S&H) so when I saw these in my local Sephora I got a little giddy!

Head past the jump for photos and my thoughts!

First Impressions: Maybelline Dream Nude Airfoam Foundation

I'll avoid the long, drawn out introduction to this blog post - instead I'll direct you to the previous post for that.

Onto the impressions!

Maybelline Dream Nude Airfoam

(shown in shade 240 - Natural Beige)

Head past the jump for my thoughts :)

First Impressions: Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse Foundation

So I did it.  I broke down and bought foundations from the drugstore.

[personal disclaimer]:

Now...before you start calling me out on the fact that I only use high end foundations...I'd like to justify my decisions on not getting drugstore ones to the fact that I already have around 8 foundations I've recieved from my day job that I rotate on any given day (although, three I purchased on my own [Clinique Even Better, Josie Maran, NARS Sheer Glow] and three of which only get rotated in the summer because they're tinted moisturizers [one of which I purchased myself...FusionBeautys...] and not heavy enough for my already super dry skin in Maine wintertime).  So do I really NEED another foundation?  No.

HOWEVER.

I'm also finding as I rotate my usual favorites that I'm dangerously low on a couple...and that my dear readers, is because of YouTube videos :)

Now again, don't get me wrong.  I love making my videos and sharing them...I actually get very bummed out when I don't have time to film a video for the upcoming week or two...but I can't justify replacing my very favorite foundation until summer (and honestly it's only because it costs $42...of which I don't have extra of in winter...NARS Sheer Glow in case you're wondering).  But this blog post isn't about that foundation.  It's about my first impressions of:

Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse

(shown in shade Light 3.5 - Nude Beige)

Head past the jump for my first impressions of the foundation and a photo of it on my skin!

Thoughts: Benefit's Finding Mr. Bright

Finding Mr. Bright is a cute and kitschy set of 4 mini products and a MANual housed in an obnoxiously bright pink box (and I'm not using the word obnoxious in a completely negative connotation here...just to set the record straight! Haha.)

Head past the jump for all the details and a photo of the contents! 

Rave: Inglot Duraline

Let's be real here.  I love eyeliner...but I have a problem.  I'm rubbish with pencils (unless it's specifically for lining the waterline) and nine times out of ten I just can't stop the slight shake in my hand that you get when you're using a liquid...so I've been living off of my cream and gel liners!

(for the record...personal favorites for cream/gel liners are:  MAC Chromaline, YSL Gel Liner, Clinique Gel Liner, and L'Oreal HiP gel liner)

MAC does a mixing medium - both water based and others (I own the water based) which is great and I love using it for pigments to foil them onto my lids...but it just doesn't hold up to my sneezy, itchy, watery, allergy prone eyes (aka, it's not waterproof).

Dear Stupid Allergy Eyes:  meet Inglot Duraline (clear bottle on the right).

Head past the jump to hear my thoughts on this [fantastic] product!

Haul: Inglot Round 2!

Dear Inglot,

Why must you be so amazing.  Rarely do I find a cosmetic company that every time I order something new to try, I love it.  Thanks for being so awesome.

Love,

Me

Head past the jump for photos and opinions of my new (small) haul!

NAILS: Illamasqua "Phallic" Nail Varnish

Do you like nailpolish?  yes.
Do you like vibrant colors?  yes.
Do you like a variety of finishes?  yes.


Illamasqua is pretty well known in the makeup community for having some of the most versatile and pigmented makeup on the market today.  It *is* makeup for your alter ego after all and it holds true straight through to their nail varnishes.

They are long wearing and chip resistant (although admittedly I've yet to find a chip-resistant nail formula working 2 hardcore retail jobs...) and come in a huge range of colors from white all the way through to electric purple and blood red to black.

Phallic is definitely one of my favorite nail polishes in my collection - it's pretty unique to my collection, though I'm sure you can find something similar in other brands.  It's a deep midnight blue with blue and purple shimmer shot through it -- one color I did recently purchase is Sephora by OPI's "Countdown to the Kiss" which is an opaque royal blue with shimmer shot through.  Close, but not a perfect dupe.

Head past the jump for the photos and more information!

Thoughts: Sephora Jumbo Liner 12-Hour Wear Waterproof

The very first thing I have to say about this product is that the name is SO DARN LONG and I never remember what it actually is.  Haha.  Bad me.

The Sephora Jumbo Liners are akin to many jumbo shadow pencils (Tarte has some, MAC at one point had a lovely range shadesticks, and we can't forget the ever infamous NYX Jumbo Pencils).  Akin to the Tarte pencils, and differing from the MAC and NYX ones - these ones really do live up to their claims of 12-hour wear, and they're waterproof.  Did I mention they're waterproof?  Because they really are - I can't get them off without a dual-phase remover (think Lancome Bi-Facils or Clinique's Take the Day Off)

I have a handful of these - not only the three pictured after the jump but also a grey and a deep purple as well (I took these photos before the tragic loss of the original blog posts *tear*)

They are creamy and easy to apply, but don't fall apart when you try to sharpen them - at least - not in my experiences.  You do need a larger sharpener (and I'd like to interject here with a tip that the best pencil sharpener I have is a NARS one - best $6 I've ever spent in my life!) but they don't mush into the chamber as you turn the pencil against the blade!

I still like to use mine over a primer (and I've got an upcoming blogpost about favorite primers!) but they wear anywhere between 12 and 15 hours on me without one (please note that I have a fairly normal eyelid...I don't have oily lids at all...oilier lid types may still want their primer of choice underneath as oil melts makeup)

They're super affordable at $10 a liner and come in a bunch of amazing shades ranging from a shimmery white to the blackest black I've ever seen!

Head past the jump for photos!

Vintage FOTD: Dustin Hunter Inspired

IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHO DUSTY IS...please click the following BLOG link and YOUTUBE link and follow/subscribe now.  Best. Life. Decision. Ever.

Haha.  (alsoyoushouldorderhiscdorbuyitonitunesbecauseitsamazing....justsaying.)

Here's Dusty's original youtube video on the look, and then my interpretation of the look can be found past the jump! :)